Month: August 2014

I looked at the picture of Kizzy, my son’s dog. I often look after her when I am in the U.K. and she keeps me company at home on writing days. Sadly, I had news that she died today. So I won’t be looking after her anymore. I guess a new one will come along before too long. He can’t live without a dog.

Share this:

Like this:

This blog is intended to be about the travels and life of Natalie aged 40 in, Marriage A Journey and a Dog. The people who are following are from self-help backgrounds and fellow travelers.

So this is a blog about the travel side of my life.

My husband is a retired clinical neurophysiologist. He is now Honorary Professor of Physiology in the Medical Faculty of the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Sorry, that’s a bit of a mouthful. He is researching the effects of snake bites and organophosphate poisoning.

I have been teaching in a school in Kandy. We have 2000 girl pupils. It has been a great experience. We have the privilege of sharing in the lives of people in a poor village. We have been coming here for 5 years, staying several months each time. There is so much about the communities spread out across the country to learn. The old and the new, rich and poor live side by side, so do the religions for now.

With the vegetation and climate comes birds, butterflies monkeys, pigs, elephants, porcupine, squirrels etc. Every time a house is built, and forestation removed, the numbers go down and the human numbers go up.

Mike Sedgwick (husband) is writing a blog on the Chandler’s Ford Today site, if you would like to know more, look it up. I’ve added some pictures, but there are lots more on Chandler’s Ford Today. You will find Mike’s picture of him in a glider.

Looks good, but a bit synthetic up close

Elephants in Sri LankaTypical green view travelling around Sri LankaView from our house

Share this:

Like this:

I have just been trying to read J K Rowling, The Casual Vacancy. I found the story uninspiring and, from the reviews, I am not the only one. The good thing about it is the perfect editing. I wonder how many people there were in the team that helped prepare this book ready for publication?

I read that Jeffrey Archer had 16 on his edit team. Imagine the luxury of writing the story and leaving the rest to someone else.

If you have the ideas, then editing is worth it. If you are brilliant at editing, but without any inspirational ideas a book isn’t worth writing. That makes sense.

So far I have made 15 edits and started on the 16th for the paperback. I have read what printing companies offer and it hardly seems worth doing. It has to be UK English for a British book, so that cuts out a lot of editing options.

I have found the more I edit the more I learn and have grown to appreciate making the story a better reading experience.

I was told not to litter the text with commas, now I think I should. There are certain words that could be written in a more interesting way and the occasional phrase that I wonder how I came to write it badly, then miss the opportunity of correcting it.

One more edit and I would like it professionally read. Any recommendations on how you do that? I can run software myself.

I come back to the mantra of edit, edit, edit, yourself. One day, when I’m rich and famous, I’ll hire a team to do it for me, or have a live in secretary like Joanna Trollop. Wouldn’t that be great!